Enhanced wireless services and applications provided to wireless carrier subscribers continue to increase in popularity. For example, services such as multimedia messaging and mobile gamming applications, which allow a wireless subscriber to exchange graphics-based messages and to play video games using their wireless handsets, are currently offered to subscribers on wireless networks such as the CDMA1XRTT Code Division Multiple Access (hereinafter “CDMA”) wireless system operated by Verizon Wireless®.
To facilitate operation and transmission of enhanced wireless services, wireless systems utilize a packet-based protocol, such as the Internet Protocol (hereinafter, “IP”), to transmit data between the wireless system and a subscriber's handset. The packet-based protocol that is utilized is generally a higher level protocol than the basic transmission protocol of the wireless system. In other words, if one considers a wireless network protocol such as CDMA to be a Layer Two (or data link layer) protocol in accordance with the Open System Interconnection (hereinafter, “OSI”) system of protocol layer categorization, then the higher level packet-based protocol may be considered a Layer Three (or network layer) protocol which resides on top of the Layer Two protocol.
Packet-based protocol functionality is provided in a wireless system by Layer Three hardware components, such as Lucent Technologies' Packet Control Function (hereinafter, “PCF”) and Packet Data Services Node (hereinafter “PDSN”), which are well known in the art. To facilitate packet-based protocol communications, wireless handsets operating on a wireless network are provided with a packet-based protocol software client, e.g., an IP client, which allows the wireless handset to easily download, run and communicate with packet-based protocol enhanced wireless services via the wireless system. Thus, application developers utilizing IP as the transport mechanism of the enhanced wireless services are freed from the constraints and complexities associated with CDMA-level programming and can instead focus on developing platform-independent IP-based applications that can run on any type of network, whether they be CDMA networks, Time Division Multiple Access (hereinafter, “TDMA”) networks or Global System for Mobile Communications (hereinafter, “GSM”) networks. Because the packet-based protocol layer generally operates independent of the wireless network protocol, wireless carriers can provide their subscribers with a variety of enhanced wireless services and applications created by third-party vendors without the need to radically redesign or compromise the security of their networks.
Wireless network protocols, such as CDMA, provide secure voice and data transmission through the use of authentication services. Authentication services generally utilize authentication keys to help insure that a wireless device is authorized or otherwise permitted by the wireless carrier to place a call on the wireless network. For example, the well-known TTA/EIA IS-95 standard defines the use of authentication keys for CDMA networks (See TIA/EIA IS-95, Section 2.3.12). Although the underlying transmission of data between the wireless network and the wireless handset may be authenticated at the wireless network protocol level, communications between a wireless handset and an enhanced wireless service utilizing a packet-based network layer protocol generally is not authenticated. Thus, while a subscriber's wireless handset may be authenticated by the wireless service provider to operate on its wireless network, the subscriber's wireless handset may not be authorized to utilize a particular packet protocol-based application. The lack of an easily configurable secure channel for delivering an authentication key to an IP client resident on a subscriber's handset has prevented the use of authentication keys with packet protocol-based enhanced services. The possibility of fraudulently accessing enhanced services has thus become a concern for third-party providers of enhanced wireless services as well as wireless carriers.
What is desired, therefore, is a method and system that allows an authentication key or other authentication-related data, to be delivered to a wireless handset in a secure manner to thereby ensure authorized use of a packet-based enhanced service by a wireless handset.